Dortmund Chess 2008

Leko….the winner of Dortmund 2008….

Please click HERE to follow the games in Dortmund live.

Final results…from the Official Dortmund-site:

Sparkassen round 7…the final round…click on images for a larger view

Click HERE to play through the games of round 7.

Leko vs Naiditsch round 7 move 27

Leko vs Naiditsch round 7 final position 1/2

Nepomniachtchi vs Gustafsson round 7 move 17

Nepomniachtchi vs Gustafsson round 7 final position 1/2

Ivanchuk vs Kramnik round 7 move 25


Ivanchuk vs Kramnik round 7 final position… 1 – 0

Van Wely vs Mamedjarov round 7 move 11…final results: 0 – 1

Please click HERE to play through the games of round 6.

Gustafsson…image: chess.com
Standings after round 6…today it’s round7, the final round!
 
Round 6…Sparkassen…Dortmund…please click on the images for a larger view….

 
Kramnik vs Nepomniachtchi round 6 move 16..final results…1/2

Mamedjarov vs Ivanchuk round 6 move 16…final results: 1/2

Naiditsch vs Van Wely round 6 move 11…final results: 1 – 0

Gustafsson vs Leko round 6 move 15…final results : 0 – 1

Results of round 5…Sparkassen….Dortmund….
Please click HERE to play through the games of round 5.

Van Wely vs Gustafsson round 5 final position results: 0-1

Mamedjarov vs Kramnik round 5 move 33…end results… 1/2

Ivanchuk vs Naiditsch round 5 move 33…end results… 1- 0

Leko vs Nepomniachtchi round 5 move 29… move 30 f4 and game ends in a draw

Heinzel vs Trella round 5 move 28… end results… 1/2

Please click HERE to play through the games of round 4.

Standings : Sparkassen Chess Meeting
Dortmund   2008.06.28 – 2008.07.02

1: Gustafsson, J               2.5
2: Leko, P                        2.5
3: Nepomniachtchi, I      2.5
4: Mamedyarov, S           2
5: Naiditsch, A               2
6: Kramnik, V                 2
7: Ivanchuk, V               1.5
8: Van Wely, L                1

 

Dortmund – Sparkassen round 4 results:

Kramnik vs Leko 1/2

Gustafsson vs Ivanchuk 1/2

Litwak vs Trella 0-1

Naiditsch vs Mamedjarov 1/2

Nepomniachtchi vs Van Wely 1-0

Dortmund – Sparkassen  round 3 results…

Ivanchuck vs Nepomniachtchi round 3 move 13 end results: 1/2

Van Wely vs Leko round 3 move 16 end results : 1/2

Mamedjarov vs Gustafsson round 3 move 20  end results: 1/2

Naiditsch vs Kramnik round 3 move 19  end results: 1-0

Naiditsch vs Kramnik…end position….1 – 0

Trella vs Van der Weide round 3 move 14 end results: 1/2

Sparkassen results round 2….please click on the images for a larger view. 
Click on THIS LINK to play through the games of round 2.

Kramnik vs van Wely round 2 move 10

Kramnik vs van Wely…round 2 final position —Results: 1-0

Kluyner vs van der Weide round 2 move 12 — Results: 1/2

Leko vs Ivanchuk round 2 move 14

Leko vs Ivanchuk…final position round 2 —Results: 1-0

Nepomniachtchi vs Mamedjarov round 2 move 12 —Results: 1/2

 Gustafsson vs Naiditsch round 2 move 16

Gustafsson vs Naiditsch…final position…round 2 results: 1-0

Endposition Gustafsson vs Kramnik 1/2  round 2

Ivanchuk vs Van Wely round 1 draw

Naiditsch vs Nepomniachtchi round 1 draw

Zelbel vs Klyuner round 1 draw

Mamedjarov vs Leko round 1 draw

Gustafsson vs Kramnik round 1 draw

Dortmund…the 7th largest city in Germany, the 34th largest in the European Union.
Sparkassen Chess Meeting from 28th June to 6th July
The Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting is an elite chess tournament held every summer in Dortmund, Germany. It is one of the three “majors” on the chess tournament circuit along with Corus and Linares. The reigning champion is Vladimir Kramnik.

Dortmund is an invite-only event, and only the strongest grandmasters are invited. The exception is that one slot at Dortmund is awarded to the winner of the annual Aeroflot Open in Moscow, a tournament that anyone with an Elo of at least 2550 is welcome to enter.

The tournament is usually played in a round-robin or double round-robin format. However, it took the form of a series of heads-up matches in 2002 and 2004.
Source: Wikipedia
Please click HERE for the Official site.

Source: Wikipedia…The Town Hall

Image: Wikipedia…The City Centre of Dortmund
Read HERE more about Dortmund on Wikipedia.

From 28th June to 6th July 2008 everything in Dortmund’s Civic Theatre will once again revolve around chess. Eight Grand Masters will compete for points and victories during this year’s Sparkassen Chess Meeting. The spectators at the classical chess tournament with the richest tradition in Germany can look forward to exciting games at this attractive venue. The festival mood of the Sparkassen Chess Meeting is heightened by the Sparkassen Open that will be played in Dortmund Town Hall.
The tournament rules: there will be a total of seven rounds so that each of the eight grand masters will play each opponent once. Once again the spectators in the Civic Theatre can follow the matches of the chess stars closely and in a pleasant environment: all games will be displayed live on big screens, and the German Grand Masters Dr Helmut Pfleger and Klaus Bischoff will provide live commentaries via headphones.

Participants…

Vladimir Kramnik, Russia 2788
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Azerbaijan 2752
Peter Leko, Hungary 2741
Vassily Ivanchuk, Ukraine 2740
Loek Van Wely, Netherlands 2676
Ian Nepomniachtchi, Russia 2634
Arkadij Naiditsch, Germany 2623
Jan Gustafsson, Germany 2603

Shakhryar Mamedyarov

Ian Nepomniachtchi

Vassily Ivanchuk
Images: Chessdom.com and read HERE more on chessdom.

Time Schedule Sparkassen Chess Meeting 2008
Grand Masters‘ Tournament [Civic Theatre]
Saturday, 28th June 3 p.m. 1st round
Sunday, 29th June 3 p.m. 2nd round
Monday, 30th June day of rest
Tuesday, 1st July 3 p.m. 3rd round
Wednesday, 2nd July 3 p.m. 4th round
Thursday, 3rd July day of rest
Friday, 4th July 3 p.m. 5th round
Saturday, 5th July 3 p.m. 6th round
Sunday, 6th July 1 p.m. final round

PAIRINGS: Images: Chessbase…click on images for a larger view

Previous winners:

 (1) 1928 Fritz Sämisch
(2) 1951 Albéric O’Kelly de Galway
(3) 1961 Mark Taimanov
1 1973 Hans-Joachim Hecht
2 1974 Victor Ciocâltea
3 1975 Heikki Westerinen
4 1976 Oleg Romanishin
5 1977 Jan Smejkal
6 1978 Ulf Andersson
7 1979 Tamaz Giorgadze
8 1980 Raymond Keene
9 1981 Gennady Kuzmin
10 1982 Vlastimil Hort
11 1983 Mihai Suba
12 1984 Yehuda Gruenfeld
13 1985 Yuri Razuvayev
14 1986 Zoltán Ribli
15 1987 Yuri Balashov
16 1988 Smbat Lputian
17 1989 Efim Geller
18 1990 Alexander Chernin
19 1991 Igor Stohl
20 1992 Garri Kasparov
21 1993 Anatoly Karpov
22 1994 Jeroen Piket
23 1995 Vladimir Kramnik
24 1996 Vladimir Kramnik
25 1997 Vladimir Kramnik
26 1998 Vladimir Kramnik
27 1999 Péter Lékó
28 2000 Vladimir Kramnik
29 2001 Vladimir Kramnik
30 2002 Péter Lékó
31 2003 Viktor Bologan
32 2004 Viswanathan Anand
33 2005 Arkadij Naiditsch
34 2006 Vladimir Kramnik
35 2007 Vladimir Kramnik

Image: Vladimir Kramnik…chess.com
Vladimir Kramnik (pictured) was born on 25 June 1975 in Tuapse, on the shores of the Black Sea in Russia. His father was Boris, a renowned sculptor and his mother was Irina, a music teacher. He learnt to play chess at the age of 5 and by the time he was 12 he was studying at the prestigious Botvinnik school in Moscow.

At 16 he won the World under-18 Championship and emerged onto the world chess scene with a Gold Medal at the 1992 chess olympiad in Manila.

In 2000 Vladimir Kramnik achieved what few had thought possible; he defeated the great Garry Kasparov 8.5-6.5 to take the title of World Chess Champion without losing a single game.

He successfully defended his title against Peter Leko in 2004 by dramatically winning the final game to tie the 14-game match 7-7. In 2006 he beat Veselin Topalov in a hugely controversial match which reunified the competing versions of the World Chess Championship title.

At the end of 2006 he married Marie-Laure Germon, a French journalist (pictured with Kramnik below).

He put his title on the line by agreeing to play in the World Championship Tournament in Mexico City in September 2007 against a world class field. Vishy Anand won the event to end Kramnik’s reign as World Champion.

Kramnik will have an opportunity to regain his title in October 2008 when he challenges Anand for the title in a match to be held in Bonn, Germany.

 
Dortmund seen by the artist Luigi Kasimir…source: http://www.mosgallery.com

Dortmund by the artist: JOSEF EIDENBERGER …source: http://www.eidenbergeretchings.com

 

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Chess Giants 2008 also now the Karen Asrian Memorial

Congratulations Levon Aronian, Winner of the Asrian Memorial, 2008.

1st place: Levon Aronian 8.5 points
2nd place: Peter Leko 8 points
3rd place: Alexander Morozevich 7.5 points
4th place: Boris Gelfand 7.5 points

Live games link HERE …
For the results on the tournament, follow the link to the official site or on the second link where you can play through their games too.

Chess Giants Yerevan 2008″ rapid chess tournament which will be held in Yerevan, Armenia from June 8-15, 2008. Eight giants of the chess world will pair off and play two games a day in what promises to be a week of fighting chess. You can follow the games every day at 18:00 PM local time (GMT+4) from Yerevan’s picturesque Opera House. Please click HERE for the Official site of Chess Giants.
On THIS LINK you can play through their games as the tournament goes…enjoy!

Standings after 10 rounds

1. Leko, Peter HUN 2741 6½
2. Aronian, Levon ARM 2763 6
3. Sargissian, Gabriel ARM 2643 5½
4-5. Bu Xiangzhi CHN 2708 5
4-5. Gelfand, Boris ISR 2723 5
6. Morozevich, Alexander RUS 2774 4½
7. Adams, Michael ENG 2729 4
8. Akopian, Vladimir ARM 2673 3½

Aronian and Morozevich

 

Morozevich and Adams

Alexander Morozevich – RUS 2774

Levon Aronian – ARM 2763

Peter Leko – HUN 2741

 

Michael Adams – ENG 2729

 

Boris Gelfand – ISR 2723

 

Gabriel Sargissian – ARM 2643

Vladimir Akopian – ARM 2673

Bu Xiangzhi – CHN 2708

 Round 1
1 Sargissian 1/2 Adams
2 Morozevich 1-0 Gelfand
3 Bu 1/2 Leko
4 Aronian 1/2 Akopian

Round 2
1 Adams 1/2 Sargissian
2 Gelfand 1/2 Morozevich
3 Leko 1-0 Bu
4 Akopian 1/2 Aronian

Note that due to the tragic news of GM Karen Asrian’s passing, the games scheduled for June 10 and June 11 have been postponed. The Chess Giants tournament will resume on June 12. Click HERE  to read about his death.

According to the decision of the Armenian Chess Federation, the Chess Giants Yerevan 2008 tournament has been renamed the Karen Asrian Memorial and will be held traditionally in honor of our cherished champion.

In addition, the rapid open scheduled to have been played in parallel to the main tournament from June 12-15, has been cancelled.

 It is with great sadness and difficulty we report to you that today, June 9, Armenian Grandmaster Karen Asrian passed away. He was 28 years old. Details will be forthcoming. Round 1 games started late after a moment of silence in GM Asrian’s memory.

Yerevan, Armenia, the Opera House is the round building on the left…and this is where this tournament takes place. Image: Britanica

 

Image: http://www.ecml.at/html/armenian/images/yerevan

In the valley of Biblical Mount Ararat lies the beautiful ancient city of Yerevan, the 12th capital of Armenia. Yerevan was built around the city-fortress of Erebuni established by the King Argishti the First the king of Urartu in the year 782 BC.The ruins of Erebuni still stand in the southeastern part of the city.

A large part of the Erebuni fortification had been reconstructed by 1968 when the city celebrated the 2750th anniversary of its foundation. The well-preserved walls permitted the complete reproduction of the layout of Erebuni.

Yerevan is situated in the north-eastern part of the Ararat Valley. Mounts Aragats, Azhdaak, and Ararat can be seen from the city. With its rugged terrain, Yerevan displays a 400m disparity between its lowest and highest points. The city is divided by Hrazdan River that flows in a picturesque canyon.

The climate in Yerevan is dry and sharply varied with temperatures in summer peaking over 35 C and falling below -15 C in winter.

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